Tag: fertility goddess

Goddesses Who Can Assist You In Your Spellcrafting

Goddesses Who Can Assist You In Your Spellcrafting

Aphrodite: Greek; Goddess of passionate, sexual love. Aphrodite will assist you in pulling loving energy toward yourself.

Aradia: Italian; Queen of the Witches, daughter of Diana. Aradia is an extremely powerful entity and a protectress of Witches in general.

Artemis: Greek; Goddess of the Moon.

Astarte: Greek; Fertility Goddess. Whether you wish to bear children or have a magnificent garden, Astarte will assist in your desire.

Demeter: Greek; Earth Mother archetype. Excellent Goddess where birthing or small children are involved.

Diana: Roman; Moon Goddess and Goddess of the Hunt. Diana is many faceted. She is seductress (as she enchanted her brother Lucifer to beget Aradia in the form of a cat) as well as a mother figure for Witches.

Isis: Egyptia; represents the complete Goddess or the Triple Goddess connotation in one being.

Persephone: Greek; Goddess of the Underworld as well as Harvest. Daughter of Demeter.

Selene: Greek; Goddess of the Moon and Solutions. Appeal to Selene to bring a logical answer to any problem.

Venus: Roman; Goddess of Love and Romance

Celebrating Other Spirituality 365 Days A Year – Festival of Fortuna

Memorial Day Comments
25 May

Festival of Fortuna

Fortuna was probably originally a fertility Goddess, and rites to her would have reflected this concept. However, as she became associated with the Greek Tyche, her persona changed to that of a Goddess of fate, chance, and luck.

Fortuna’s main symbol is the wheel upon which she stands, implying the instability of human fortune. Her most recognized nized symbols are those of the cornucopia and rudder, indicating her ability to steer the destiny tiny of people. At this time of year, her temples would have been decorated with fresh flowers. Offerings would have been made to her for the purpose of bringing good fortune and luck to those who followed her ways.

Deity of the Day for May 14th is Pomona

Deity of the Day

Pomona

Areas of Influence: Pomona was one of the Numina, the Roman guardian spirits who watched over people, homes and special places. She protected fruiting trees and gardens.

She is an agricultural Goddess , responsible for the care and cultivation of fruit trees and orchards. Her name is actually derived from the Latin word pomun, meaning fruit. Her dedication to her work left her little time for love. She turned down the offers of marriage from Silvanus and Picus but was eventually tricked into marriage by Vertumnus. This deity was served by high priests known as Flamen Pomonalis in a sacred grove known as the Pomonal.

Origins and Genealogy: I can find no references to her parents, siblings and children.

Strengths: A nurturer, dedicated to her job. As a fertility Goddess she represented abundance.

Weaknesses: So busy looking after her trees that she has little time for herself.

Symbolism: A popular figure in art she is shown as a beautiful Goddess carrying a knife to prune with and a platter of fruit or a cornucopia.

Sacred Animal/Bird/Plant: Apples.

Festival: A feast was held annually on the November 1st when apples, nuts and grapes were consumed to celebrate the harvest.

Unlike many of the Roman Goddesses she has no specific Greek equivalent.

Pomona’s Archetype

The Mother

The Mother is a life-giver and the source of nurturing, devotion, patience and unconditional love. The ability to forgive and provide for her children and put them before herself is the essence of a good mother.

In its shadow aspect the Mother can be devouring, abusive and abandoning. The shadow Mother can also make her children feel guilty about becoming independent and leaving her. It is not necessary to be a biological Mother to have this stereotype. It can refer to anyone who has a lifelong pattern of nurturing and devotion to living things.

As Goddess of the harvest she represents the Mother Archetype as she nurtures the fruits, trees and the plants in the garden.

How to Work With This Archetype

The Mother

You are exhibiting the features of the shadow Mother if you smother your children and are over protective. Encourage independence and allow children to make mistakes but be available to give care and advice when it’s needed.

The other shadow Mother is the one that abandons her children, or is so busy that she has no time for nurturing her young.

 

Source:
Goddess-Guide.com

Seasons of the Witch – Legends and Lore, Ancient Holidays

Seasons of the Witch – Legends and Lore,  Ancient Holidays
And Some Not So  Ancient!
 
Goddess Month of  Moura runs from 2/20 – 3/19
Celtic Tree of the Month:The Ash – February 18  –  March 17  
Celtic tree month  Fearn begins
Sheelah’s  Day, an annual festival to honor the fertility Goddess known as Sheela-na-gig was held on this  date in ancient Ireland. As
Christianity made  inroads, the identity of the Goddess was altered to the consort of mother of St. Patrick. Sheela is a very potent fertility
goddess and is  depicted in a squatting birthing position, holding her labia wide to allow her fertility to pass  out to any who honour her.
The obviousness of her fertility terrified the Church so they scrambled to find a more chaste version of her. 
St. Patrick’s Day (March  17)
March 17 is widely accepted as  the date of St. Patrick’s death in A.D. 461.
The first St. Patrick’s Day  parade in the United States was held in New York City on this day in 1762. 
Cabbage seeds are often planted  today, and old-time farmers believed that to make them grow well, you needed to  plant them while wearing your nightclothes.
On St. Patrick’s  Day, the warm side of a rock turns up,
and the broad-back goose begins  to lay.
From The Old Farmer’s  Almanac
Canaan: The  annual Festival of Astarte was held this day in
Canaan to honor the honor the  Goddess known as Queen of Heaven.
Rome: Date of  women’s festival of freedom known as the
Liberalia.
Spain: Fallas –  Annual festival in Valencia, when giant
sculptures are burnt in bonfires  across the region.  The
tradition (according to  Christians) is thought to have
originated in ancient times from  carpenters burning unwanted
wood at the start of spring. In  the Catalan language, fallas
means “fire.”

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NOTE: Because of the large number of ancient  calendars, many in simultaneous use, as well as different ways of computing holy  days (marked by the annual inundation, the solar year, the lunar month, the  rising of key stars, and other celestial and terrestrial events), you may find  these holy days celebrated a few days earlier or later at your local  temple.
Straight from
GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast

Deity of the Day – Holda

Deity of the Day – Holda

Also known as Fraw Holt, Holda became virtually synonymous with Abonde, Diana, and Perchta. Originally, Holda had been a Germanic goddess of vegetation and fertility, much like Perchta. Holda was also the goddess of spinning and weaving.

She, like her other manifestations, was the leader of the “Furious Horde” or “Wild Hunt” (Wütischend Heer, Wilde Jagd, Mesnie Sauvage)–“namely of the ranks of those who had died prematurely and passed through village streets at night, unrelenting and terrible, while the inhabitants barricaded their doors for protection.”

Holda had two forms, that of a beautiful girl dressed all in white, and that of a hideous crone with fangs, a hooked nose, and long, tangled grey hair. In the latter form, she looked just like the stereotypical image of a witch or the evil stepmother of fairy tales. As the White Lady, she was a fertility goddess who granted prosperity to home, family, and field. As the Hag, she offered those who ignored or insulted her death, illness, and misfortune. In this form, she was responsible for fog and snow.